Despite having a large phenotypic variety in the animal kingdom, birds are not very facially expressive. Their eyes are beady and their beaks are incapable of emotional curvature. Birds can be cute, of course, but they can’t come forth with the same opportunity for imposed human likeness that other species of big eyes and soft snuzzles can offer.
This is not a proposal for better or worse (hopefully, not worse!) treatment of birds, but a kind of appreciation for Susan Chardy’s performance as our main character Shula, who we may subconsciously compare to a fellow pheasant. With a film title as instructive yet unclear as Rungano Nyoni’s sophomore effort, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, the comparison can be unavoidable. However, it’s less about intra-species imitation and more about how, despite Shula’s slightly furrowed expression that barely falters for the first half hour, we are so drawn to her character’s internal gears, which we bet are working overtime (and truthfully, I can’t say the same when I look at pigeons).
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl begins with Shula driving back from a costume party when she finds the body of her uncle Fred on the side of the road. Without a break in composure, she first calls her dad, who initially dismisses the announcement and advises to splash water on him. But after Shula re-confirms her uncle’s demise, her dad promises to get to the scene – oh, but can she please help cover the taxi fare? Nonetheless, he doesn’t show up; instead, her cousin Nsansa (Elizabeth Chisela) arrives at the scene, inebriated and promising a grand homecoming for Shula, if Shula is down. Unsurprisingly, she is not.
As his death breaks out among the extended family branches, it doesn’t take long to figure out that Uncle Fred is not completely beloved. Victims of his dark foul play are scattered in anonymity and Fred’s old guard generation will not allow the open secret to tarnish his name. Shula keeps to herself; while Nsansa’s exterior seems light and fleeting, she shares a heartbreaking experience with Uncle Fred that’s delivered in chopped, drunken laughter. We know exactly the mechanics behind her reaction and understand how painful the residual trauma is.
But the film is not just about the contradictory feelings of a man’s death. There is comedy within the painful wails and scornful remarks, reflective of how life goes on even in death. Filmed in Zambia and spoken mostly in Bemba, the story is grounded in customs, which ends up working as a curious and ultimately effective gameplay to audiences unfamiliar with the region. In the hands of cinematographer David Gallego (who previously collaborated with Nyoni on 2017’s I Am Not a Witch), the movie teasingly distorts reality by showing tribal traditions within a shadowy genre-bending ruse to assume a kind of nightmarish air permuting the screen. At some point, Shula and Nsansa are tasked with retrieving their young cousin Bupe (Esther Singini), and they find themselves in a building where residents are silently sweeping flood water. As the camera follows them across hallways, Shula then finds Bupe unconscious on a bed, and the camera pans out, as if to give space to another tragedy and to share that the effects are larger than the two in the center of the frame.
There is a lot of thought behind the shots, and especially the lack thereof. I don’t believe we see a man’s face close up until the halfway point, and it’s of an employee at a printer shop who helps develop the funeral programs. Yet their absence still reflects the domineering presence of the patriarchal role, and how it affects the on-screen women’s treatment towards each other. Blood relatives send scornful lashes across the room to Fred’s widow, a young girl accused of not taking better care of her husband. When Shula and Nsansa are hiding in the pantry, it’s a defensive retreat from the line of judgmental vision.
Where Nyoni shows is excellent. Where Nyoni tells sometimes disrupts the haunting atmosphere, even if it serves a purpose. Towards the end, the role of the guinea fowl is explained: when there is danger about, it will emit a screech to warn other animals in the area of a predator. It brings the very last scene to be somewhat on the nose, but within the film’s skill in creating a dream state of a funeral procession and entrancing characters to guide the way out from darkness, these explanations can be forgiven.
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
2024
dir. Rungano Nyoni
99 mins
Now playing @ Coolidge Corner Theatre and Kendall Square Cinema
